Leadership

The Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn is led by Archbishop Christopher Prowse, with the assistance of Vicar General, Fr Richard Thompson, and the Vicar for Education, Dr Patrick McArdle; Episcopal Vicar for Social Services and Welfare, Monsignor John Woods; and Episcopal Vicar for New Frontiers, Fr Tony Percy.

Archbishop Christopher Prowse

Archbishop Christopher Prowse was officially installed as the seventh Archbishop of the Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese on November 19, 2013.

For more information about Archbishop Christopher, visit Our Archbishop.

 Vicar General Fr. Richard  Thompson

The Very Reverend Richard Thompson VG CSM was born in Cootamundra and from his family’s rural property near Stockinbingal he attended the local schools before undertaking a cadetship with the Temora Independent newspaper. Subsequently, he briefly taught skiing at Mt Hutt in New Zealand and after returning to Australia jointly operated a hotel at Wagga Wagga. After two years, he resumed studies at Trinity Catholic College in Wagga before entering St Patrick’s Seminary in Manly to study for the diocesan priesthood.

Fr Richard graduated from St Patrick’s in 1984 with degrees in theology and philosophy and was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn in 1985. His initial appointment was to St Mary’s Parish, Young and then as the Director of Chaplaincy at the then Royal Canberra and Woden Valley hospitals.

Fr Richard joined the Royal Australian Navy Reserves as a chaplain in 1988 and became a full-time RAN chaplain in 1990. He served in all the major Australian Navy units, including a deployment in the first Gulf War, and also on exchange with the Royal Navy, the US Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy. In 2003, Fr Richard was awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal for his role as a Coordinating Chaplain in Bali following the terrorist attacks. As a Senior Chaplain he taught at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and also in Britain at the Royal Navy’s Apprenticeship School at Gosport, lecturing in leadership, trauma management, and ethics. He pursued additional studies at the United States Navy’s Leadership College at Newport, Rhode Island. He was the RAN’s Senior Chaplain to Navy Systems Command when he retired from the RAN in 2005.

Upon his return to the Archdiocese, Fr Richard served as Parish Priest of St Mary’s in Young, NSW from 2005 to 2013. During this time, he was appointed as Dean for the Western Deanery of the Archdiocese. In 2014, he was named Parish Priest of Mary Help of Christians Parish, South Woden. It was during this assignment, Fr Richard was appointed and installed as a Chaplain to the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem (ChLJ) in 2016; Dean of the Central Deanery; and subsequently Dean for the newly formed Southern Deanery of the Archdiocese.

In 2022, Archbishop Christopher Prowse appointed Fr Richard as Vicar General for the Archdiocese, as well as one of two Delegates to support him in his role as Apostolic Administrator for the Catholic Military Ordinariate of Australia until a new bishop is eventually named.